Health Facts

Know Your Fats

Fats and oils are part of a healthy diet and play many important
roles in the body. Fat provides energy and is a carrier of essential
nutrients such as vitamins A, D, E, K, and carotenoids. But, fat can
impact the health of your heart and arteries in a positive or negative
way, depending on the types of fat you eat.

HERE'S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:
Eat less saturated fat, trans fat, and cholesterol.
Eating too much saturated fat, the type of fat that is solid at room
temperature, may increase risk of heart disease. Similarly, eating
too much trans fat, which is made when liquid vegetable oil
is processed to become solid, also may increase risk of heart disease.
And, eating too much cholesterol, a fatty substance found only in
animal-based products, may clog arteries. It is important to eat less
than 10% of your calories from saturated fat.

For example, if you aim to eat 2,000 calories a day, your daily
allowance of saturated fat would be less than 200 calories or 20 grams—which
equals 100 percent Daily Value (% DV) for saturated fat. The table
above shows the saturated fat limits for people with various calorie
needs. Furthermore, you should keep trans fat as low as possible
and eat less than 300 milligrams of cholesterol each day.

Be wise about fat. Choose fats found in fish, nuts, and vegetable
oils most often.
Most of the fat in your diet should come from food sources of polyunsaturated
and monounstatured fats. Experts recommend getting between 20% and
35% of calories from totalfat, with most fats coming from fish, nuts,
and vegetable oils. These foods can contain monounsaturated and polyunsaturated
fats—they should replace the saturated and trans fat
sources you choose to cut back on.

Unhealthy fats such as saturated fat, trans fat, and cholesterol
are found in many foods. So, look for choices that are lean, low-fat, or fat-free when selecting and preparing meat, poultry, dry beans,
and milk products. Also, trim excess fat from meat and poultry and
remove the skin from poultry to reduce saturated fat. Additionally,
foods may be processed or made with tropical oils (e.g., palm oil,
palm fruit oil, palm kernel oil, coconut oil, etc.) that increase
the amount of saturated fat in the food (e.g., cakes, cookies, pies,
crackers, candy, creamers, etc.).

Trans fat is mostly found in food products made with shortening—liquid
oil that is processed to become hard. Most of the trans fat
Americans eat come from cakes, cookies, crackers, pies, fried potatoes,
household shortening, and hard margarine. Limiting consumption of
many processed foods is a good way to reduce trans fat.

What foods have healthy fats?
The table below lists common food sources of healthy fats.

Monounsaturated

Polyunsaturated Omega-6

Polyunsaturated Omega-3

Nuts
Vegetable oils:
Canola
Olive
High oleic safflower
Sunflower

Vegetable oils:
Soybean
Corn
Safflower

Certain fish:
Salmon
Trout
Herring

Vegetable oils:
Soybean
Canola
Walnuts
Flaxseed

Women who may become pregnant, pregnant women, nursing mothers,
and young children should avoid some types of fish and eat types lower
in mercury. See www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/admehg3.html
or call 1-888-SAFEFOOD for more information.

There are many ways to reduce the saturated fat in your diet.
The table below shows a few examples of the saturated fat content
of different forms of foods you may eat. Comparisons are made between
foods in the same food group (e.g., regular cheddar cheese and low-fat
cheddar cheese)—you can choose a lower saturated fat choice
and eat many of the foods you enjoy.

Use the label—what to look for and how it adds up.
The Nutrition Facts label can help you choose fats wisely. Look at
the serving size and determine how many servings you are actually
eating. If you eat two servings, you will be consuming double the
calories and nutrients, such as fat. You will also get double the
% DV of other nutrients. The % DV represents one serving of the food
item.

Use the % DV on the Nutrition Facts label to identify which nutrients
(total fat, saturated fat, and cholesterol) are high or low; 5% DV
or less is low, and 20% DV or more is high. There is no % DV for trans
fat, but you should aim to keep trans fat intake as low as
possible.

Additionally, the labels on some food packages have claims that describe
a specific level of fat (including total fat, saturated, or trans
fat) in a food. Some examples of claims to look for are: "fat free,"
"low saturated fat," "no fat," or "light."

* % Daily Values (DV) listed in this column
are based on the food amounts listed in the table. The % DV listed is
based on a 2,000 calorie diet. The DV for saturated fat is 20 grams.
Source: Agricultural Research Service (ARS) Nutrient Database for Standard
Reference, Release 17.